R408--Market Research, Polling, Printing, and mailing services to support VA Million Veterans Program. 36C24E26R0001

This is a PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE for a commercial acquisition using FAR Parts 12 and 15. THIS PRESOLICITATION NOTICE IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP). VENDORS SHALL NOT SUBMIT FORMAL PROPOSALS UNTIL AN RFP IS POSTED TO THE SYSTEM FOR AWARDS MANAGEMENT (SAM) WEBSITE. This procurement will be solicited as UNRESTRICTED: If award cannot be made, the solicitation will be cancelled, and the requirement resolicited. The requirement to provide all support and resources necessary to facilitate primary data collection, program management, strategic communications, and education and training services for VA medical studies. The desired outcome is to provide market research and polling to drive veteran recruitment, engagement and retention for the VA sponsored Million Veterans Program (MVP). The contract will also provide high volume support to design and develop survey booklets, letters, and other printed materials. This process also includes material mailings, response tracking, and handling returned correspondence. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Regional Procurement Office East, Research and Development team is soliciting on behalf of the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC) and Clinical Excellence Research Center (CERC) entities based at the VA facility in Boston, MA. Any resultant contract will be effective for a base ordering period of five (5) years. Individually funded task orders will award actual performance periods. PROJECT OVERVIEW The Tasks and Associated Deliverables detailed below describe the anticipated services to be performed under this contract. However, specific taskings and deliverables will be issued under individual Task Orders. Note: All letters and survey cover sheets should have VA logo (in color) and program logo (in color), survey instruction sheets should have program logo (in color), all questionnaire booklets and forms will be black/white with drop out color. For tasks with design features, the contractor will design according to VA requirements, re-format as directed by the government and suggest design improvements to the government based on industry expertise. Design tasks will include integrating standard language into mailing materials that promote the MVP marketing/promotional messaging as provided by the government. Prior to any outbound mailing, the contractor will check the address against applicable USPS databases and remove any mailing that will not be delivered, change the address where a new address is provided and update the mailing database as directed by the government. Task 1: PROJECT MANAGEMENT Task 2: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL/REMAIL BASELINE SURVEY PACKET Task 3: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL/REMAIL POSTCARD PACKET (3rd and 4th mailing) Task 4: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL APPOINTMENT PACKET Task 5: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL MODIFIED APPOINTMENT PACKET Task 6: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL BASELINE SURVEY REMINDER PACKET Task 7: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL/RE-MAIL LIFESTYLE SURVEY PACKET Task 8a: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL WITHDRAWAL FORM REQUEST PACKET Task 8b: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL WITHDRAWAL CONFIRMATION LETTER Task 9: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL APPOINTMENT CHANGE/CANCELLATION LETTER Task 10: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL INFORMED CONSENT PACKET Task 11: RECEIPT AND SCAN OF RETURNED MATERIALS Task 12: DESIGN, PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC RELATIONS MATERIALS Task 13: DESIGN, PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF PINS, PENS AND/OR COINS Task 14a: DESIGN, PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF MVP NEWSLETTER Task 14b: DESIGN, PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF ANNUAL PERSONALIZED LETTERS (i.e. Veterans Day) Task 15a: DESIGN, PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF BUSINESS REPLY ENVELOPES Task 15b: DESIGN, PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF THANK YOU PIN LETTERS Task 16: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL/REMAIL OF SURVEY (Name and length of survey could change and will be priced each budget year.) Task 17: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL/REMAIL OF SUB-PROGRAM SURVEY (Name and length of survey could change and will be priced each budget year.) Task 18: DESIGN, PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF PERSONALIZED LETTERS (i.e. invitation to enroll online after completing baseline survey or to complete surveys online after enrollment at site) The agency is contemplating single award of an Indefinite Delivery/Requirements contract with Firm fixed price (FFP) task orders to the contractor whose submission represents best value to the Government. The North American Industry Classification System code is 541910 Market Research and Public Opinion Polling. Interested parties shall be registered in the System for Award Management at (www.sam.gov). The Veteran s Health Administration Regional Procurement Office - East estimates a posting date of solicitation 36C24E26R0001 on approximately November 6, 2025 and distributed solely through the SAM Website (www.sam.gov). If the Request for Proposal (RFP) is posted before, on, or after the above date then it will supersede this notice. This notice does not constitute an RFP, nor any other commitment by the Government and should not be construed to as a commitment of any kind by the Government to issue a formal solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Any costs incurred by interested parties will NOT be reimbursed. It is the responsibility of any interested party to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this notice. Primary Point of Contact: Michael Haydo Contracting Officer Email: michael.haydo@va.gov

This is a PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE for a commercial acquisition using FAR Parts 12 and 15. THIS PRESOLICITATION NOTICE IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP). VENDORS SHALL NOT SUBMIT FORMAL PROPOSALS UNTIL AN RFP IS POSTED TO THE SYSTEM FOR AWARDS MANAGEMENT (SAM) WEBSITE. This procurement will be solicited as UNRESTRICTED: If award cannot be made, the solicitation will be cancelled, and the requirement resolicited. The requirement to provide all support and resources necessary to facilitate primary data collection, program management, strategic communications, and education and training services for VA medical studies. The desired outcome is to provide market research and polling to drive veteran recruitment, engagement and retention for the VA sponsored Million Veterans Program (MVP). The contract will also provide high volume support to design and develop survey booklets, letters, and other printed materials. This process also includes material mailings, response tracking, and handling returned correspondence. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Regional Procurement Office East, Research and Development team is soliciting on behalf of the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC) and Clinical Excellence Research Center (CERC) entities based at the VA facility in Boston, MA. Any resultant contract will be effective for a base ordering period of five (5) years. Individually funded task orders will award actual performance periods. PROJECT OVERVIEW The Tasks and Associated Deliverables detailed below describe the anticipated services to be performed under this contract. However, specific taskings and deliverables will be issued under individual Task Orders. Note: All letters and survey cover sheets should have VA logo (in color) and program logo (in color), survey instruction sheets should have program logo (in color), all questionnaire booklets and forms will be black/white with drop out color. For tasks with design features, the contractor will design according to VA requirements, re-format as directed by the government and suggest design improvements to the government based on industry expertise. Design tasks will include integrating standard language into mailing materials that promote the MVP marketing/promotional messaging as provided by the government. Prior to any outbound mailing, the contractor will check the address against applicable USPS databases and remove any mailing that will not be delivered, change the address where a new address is provided and update the mailing database as directed by the government. Task 1: PROJECT MANAGEMENT Task 2: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL/REMAIL BASELINE SURVEY PACKET Task 3: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL/REMAIL POSTCARD PACKET (3rd and 4th mailing) Task 4: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL APPOINTMENT PACKET Task 5: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL MODIFIED APPOINTMENT PACKET Task 6: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL BASELINE SURVEY REMINDER PACKET Task 7: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL/RE-MAIL LIFESTYLE SURVEY PACKET Task 8a: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL WITHDRAWAL FORM REQUEST PACKET Task 8b: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL WITHDRAWAL CONFIRMATION LETTER Task 9: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL APPOINTMENT CHANGE/CANCELLATION LETTER Task 10: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL INFORMED CONSENT PACKET Task 11: RECEIPT AND SCAN OF RETURNED MATERIALS Task 12: DESIGN, PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC RELATIONS MATERIALS Task 13: DESIGN, PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF PINS, PENS AND/OR COINS Task 14a: DESIGN, PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF MVP NEWSLETTER Task 14b: DESIGN, PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF ANNUAL PERSONALIZED LETTERS (i.e. Veterans Day) Task 15a: DESIGN, PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF BUSINESS REPLY ENVELOPES Task 15b: DESIGN, PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF THANK YOU PIN LETTERS Task 16: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL/REMAIL OF SURVEY (Name and length of survey could change and will be priced each budget year.) Task 17: DESIGN, PRINT, MAIL/REMAIL OF SUB-PROGRAM SURVEY (Name and length of survey could change and will be priced each budget year.) Task 18: DESIGN, PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF PERSONALIZED LETTERS (i.e. invitation to enroll online after completing baseline survey or to complete surveys online after enrollment at site) The agency is contemplating single award of an Indefinite Delivery/Requirements contract with Firm fixed price (FFP) task orders to the contractor whose submission represents best value to the Government. The North American Industry Classification System code is 541910 Market Research and Public Opinion Polling. Interested parties shall be registered in the System for Award Management at (www.sam.gov). The Veteran s Health Administration Regional Procurement Office - East estimates a posting date of solicitation 36C24E26R0001 on approximately November 6, 2025 and distributed solely through the SAM Website (www.sam.gov). If the Request for Proposal (RFP) is posted before, on, or after the above date then it will supersede this notice. This notice does not constitute an RFP, nor any other commitment by the Government and should not be construed to as a commitment of any kind by the Government to issue a formal solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Any costs incurred by interested parties will NOT be reimbursed. It is the responsibility of any interested party to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this notice. Primary Point of Contact: Michael Haydo Contracting Officer Email: michael.haydo@va.gov

MVP Support Services

Questions and Answers for solicitation 36C24E26R0001 Answers in Bold Type 1. Solicitation no. 36C24E26R0001 is an unrestricted procurement. Given that FAR 52.219-9 Alternate II is checked and VAAR 852.219-70 is incorporated within the RFP, can the government please confirm: 1.1 Is a small business subcontracting plan required to be submitted with the proposal or is it a post-award requirement only for a successful large business offeror? The small business subcontracting plan should be submitted with the proposal. 1.2 If such a plan is required pre- or post-award, can the Government please provide the applicable small business subcontracting percentage goals (e.g., Small Business, VOSB, SDVOSB, WOSB, HUBZone, etc.) for this procurement? The Subcontracting goals are required pre-award and they are set at 3% SDVOSB, 5% VOSB, 3% Hubzone, 5% SDB, 5% WOSB, and 17.5% SB, or the minimum goals for award of subcontracts to VA verified service-disabled veteran-owned small business and veteran-owned small business SDVOSB/VOSB shall be at least commensurate with the Department's annual SDVOSB/VOSB subcontracting goals. 2. The Addendum to FAR 52.212-1, Section II.A.4 requires offerors to submit either a completed FAR 52.212-3 form or a printout of the ORCA certification. As the Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) system has been decommissioned and fully replaced by the System for Award Management (SAM), could the Government please confirm that a printout from SAM.gov showing that an offeror's annual representations and certifications are active and complete is an acceptable submission method in lieu of an ORCA certification? A printout from SAM with the offeror s representations and certifications is acceptable. 3. The description of Task 9 in the PWS specifies a pre-folded survey in a 6x10 envelope. However, the pricing sheet for Task 9 includes the MHS Survey (52 pages) Mailed to Veterans. A survey of this length cannot be pre-folded into the specified envelope given its thickness. Should offerors assume this specific survey will require a different format, such as a 9x12 flat envelope? Yes. 4. Task 2 requires the contractor to review and process whitemail. Task 12 is for producing Personalized Letters in response to whitemail. To ensure accurate pricing, should the labor for handling, reviewing, and processing returned whitemail be factored into the per-piece cost of the various survey items under Task 2, or is it covered elsewhere? It should be factored into the per-piece cost of Task 12. It should not be factored into the per-piece costs of the scanning of returned surveys. Whitemail is generally letters or notes received separately or included in with a survey response. It may result in the need to respond to the sender using templated language provided by the VA. The costs for Task 12 should reflect per piece costs for assessing the whitemail that is received, determining the response template to use, preparing and mailing the response and documenting that process and providing the details of that response back to the VA and any misc efforts with the VA to ensure that the sender receives excellent customer service. The processing of the white mail may result in simply adding it to the agreed upon tracker for action by the VA and others will result in the contractor creating a letter based on templated language and mailing it to the sender in addition to adding it to the tracker. 5. To accurately estimate the labor associated with handling returned correspondence, can the Government provide an assumed ratio or percentage of whitemail expected relative to the volume of returned surveys? Approximately 0.5% of returned surveys and postcards result in whitemail activity. 8. Should offerors assume that every page of every returned survey must be reviewed by personnel to identify and process any marginal comments, treating them with the same level of care as whitemail as described in Task 2? Yes. 9. The pricing sheet requests a single unit cost for Project Management and Data Security hours. Should offerors propose a single, blended average labor rate for all personnel contributing to this task, or would the VA prefer a breakdown of hours and rates by specific labor categories (e.g., Project Manager, Data Analyst, Security Specialist)? Yes, it should be a blended average labor rate for all personnel contributing to the task. 10. For Task 11, Design, Production and Distribution of Business Reply Envelopes, what envelope size should be assumed for pricing? 9 x12 flat envelope 11. For Task 12, Design, Production and Distribution of Personalized Letters, what is the assumed page count for these response letters? 1 single page 12. Under the predecessor contract, the MVP Appreciation Pins have been provided as Government-Furnished Equipment (GFE) for insertion into the mailings. For pricing consistency, can the Government confirm that all offerors should assume this GFE arrangement will continue, and that they should only price the labor for insertion? Yes. 13. Given the solicitation's estimated start date of May 2026, could the Government please clarify if the evaluation of an offeror s technical approach and risk rating specifically consider whether an offeror possesses a current, active VA-E ATO covering the activities and systems to be used in executing this work as an indicator of ability to ensure no delays in contract performance? Yes offeror s are to include all information related to the ability to obtain and/or related to existing ATOs that can be leveraged to ensure continuation of operations. 14. Can the VA clarify the escalation procedures and response timelines for correspondence containing perceived life-threatening notes ( hotmail )? As soon as the offeror sees life-threatening notes, they must initiate a workflow to get that information to the VA as soon as possible during their business hours. 14. Can offerors use the same projects for "Relevant Experience" and "Past Performance"? If yes, can the government please clarify what different information is expected in each to avoid redundancy? Relevant Experience reflects whether the offeror has performed work of similar type, size and scope. Relevant experience is independent from the past performance factor. Past performance is an assessment of how well a contractor performed under previously awarded contracts. If using the same past projects for both volumes, then the offeror should emphasize the areas pertaining to each specific volume. 15. Can VA please confirm that the portion of unit price related to postage is a pass-through and this amount would be variable based on action by the United States Postal Service (USPS)? The mailing unit prices will fluctuate annually based on USPS rate changes. The changes will be updated in the base contract by modification as soon as USPS approves their rates for the period in question. 16. As noted on page 11 of the solicitation, the quantities are estimates and actual quantities and performance periods will be awarded by individual task order. Since this is a firm-fixed-price contract, how should the contractor handle any changes to the quantities from those provided for the bid? This is especially important for the Exposure Surveys (173,000; 233,333; and 433,333) and the MVP Newsletter (200,000). The estimated quantities cover entire periods and may fluctuate. Firm-fixed price task orders will award specific quantities over specific periods. 17. Are the quantities provided in the solicitation before or after the contractor has run mailing list hygiene procedures to maximize the quality of the mailing list? The quantities on the solicitation price list are estimates. Actual quantities will be awarded by individual task order and include the final quality of the mailing list information. 18. When possible, will the contractor be provided mail-out quantities greater than those provided in the solicitation so that the contractor can reduce the mail files to the solicitation quantities? If so, will the contractor be provided with criteria for reducing the quantities to achieve the maximum benefit for the MVP? The quantities on the solicitation price list are estimates and may fluctuate. 19. Are postage costs to be included in the bid or not? Since postage is a major cost factor, can the contractor ask for an adjustment to the firm-fixed price if postage proves to be higher than anticipated in the bid? See question 15. 20. What is the frequency that each of the printed materials is distributed? For example, daily/weekly/monthly/annually? The newsletter is distributed 1x annually. The appointment letters are distributed up to 2x week. The invitational mailings are each sent 1x month (1 week each month for each invitational mailing). All survey mailings are sent each week. 21. Are the mailing quantities spread fairly evenly across the year? See question 20. The newsletter is shipped all at once. The appointment letters as they are scheduled each week. Invitational mailings are spread evenly across the year as are surveys. There may be times when a new survey is launched and will be sent spread out over a few months as opposed to spread out over years. All of this work is on going throughout the year. 22. Is the same envelope used within each envelope type? For example, all mailings requiring #10 windows use the same #10 windows, etc. Also, what is the required paper weight for the letters, surveys, and postcards? Minimum 24 lb for letters and surveys choose what will ensure no bleed throughs even with solid color banners in footer or headers; easy to read and fill out surveys that are double-sided and will not cause errors in the data extraction/scanning process. Minimum 100 lb for postcards choose what will optimize pricing and ensure safe receipt and quality extraction of responses through scanning. 23. Is it acceptable to add line items to the spreadsheet for costs that do not align with the provided line items? For example, shipping costs, postage costs, infrastructure costs. Should postage pricing be included at today s rates? How are USPS increases handled? Sub elements may be added for informational purposes, but pricing should cover only the task and include all areas necessary to meet each task specification. 24. How many Key Personnel are required to be named? Is it both a Project Manager and a Data Manager? As many key personnel as required to ensure high quality product and data assurance and excellent customer service to both the VA and Veterans. 25. Is it reasonable to expect the VA will provide assistance to the contractor to finalize their VA-E ATO from the time period between award and the first day of contract performance? The VA will provide assistance as allowed by the VA. The ATO is the responsibility of the contractor and requires excellent understanding of federal data security regulations and entails considerable effort and documentation as well as ongoing monthly monitoring/data submission to the VA once the ATO is awarded. 26. How many addresses will be provided by the VA per each Veteran? One address will be provided for each Veteran on each mailing list. 27. Will data transferred from the VA to the contractor be sent from one source? If multiple, how many sources? How often will the data be transferred? The data will be transferred to the contractor from one source. 28. Will data transferred from the VA to the contractor all be in a single datafile or multiple files based on the mailing type? If multiple files, how many? One Zipped/encrypted file per day. 29. How prevalent is the need for the sites to print materials onsite that will then be scanned by the contractor? What types of documents would these be? This is not a contract requirement. 30. Will scanned documents be destroyed after three years or shipped to MAVERIC? If shipped, should shipping costs be included in pricing? Scanned documents will be destroyed after three years and after confirmation that MAVERIC has received a usable image file and the extracted data. 31. How many open-ended comment areas and write-in response areas are on each of the surveys? Baseline, Lifestyle, Exposure, Device, MHS, Recontact? What is the comment response rate for each of the surveys with comments? What is the average comment length for each of the surveys with comments? For the purposes of this solicitation assume an average across all surveys of 25 open-ended variables, an average response length of 26 characters, and at least 56% of surveys have at least one open ended comment answered. 32. Is the daily data delivery from the contractor to the VA sent to one location? Is there a separate daily file for each survey type with activity on that day? Yes all data regardless of frequency is sent to the same location. Each survey type has a separate daily file. 33. Are there complex edit rules for survey responses? For example, skip logic edits. No. All data provided by respondents should be captured regardless of skip patterns. 34. If comments are written in the survey margins or notes made on the survey, is this information processed as whitemail? If it is dispositional, such as deceased or new address, is it included in the data deliverable accordingly? Yes, this information is considered whitemail. Yes it should be delivered to the VA via the whitemail process and the data about deceased or new address information should be relayed to the VA as well. 35. The recruitment/informational letter is described as 1-sided but also referenced as duplex. Is it 1-sided? It is double-sided, not single sided. 36. How many checkboxes are on the recruitment postcard? Can these be printed in dropout ink? There are 3 checkboxes on the recruitment postcard. The ink used must ensure the cards are legible, match the VA templates and accuracy to MVP and VA branding parameters. The ink used must ensure that Veteran responses are captured accurately. 37. Would a window envelope measuring 6 x 9.5 with a folded BRE be acceptable? Yes. 38. Should pricing to manufacture the pin be included or does the VA provide these? What is meant by either provided by this contractor or a separate contractor ? The primary scope of this solicitation is to include the pins in mailings to Veterans. The contractor may produce internally, or through a sub type contract. 38-1. Are the pins 1.25 in diameter? Yes, the pins are 1.25 in diameter. The pins are to be provided by the contractor, which they may procure through outside sources. 39. What is meant by direct mail ? Is this a general reference to postal mail or is it descriptive of a specific class of mail? Mail sent directly via USPS to individual Veterans named on the envelope and with personalization of the letters. Postal and electronic mail sent directly to participants. 40. The surveys listed in the pricing spreadsheet for Task 9 do not align with the RFP description for Task 9. The RFP only references the Baseline Survey for Task 9 and does not include the Exposure Survey, MHS Survey, or Recontact Survey. Can this be clarified? Task 9 is a description of all surveys. The restriction to the Baseline Survey is a typo. 41. In Task 9, the Baseline Survey is referenced as a 40-page survey utilizing a 6x10 window. Can this be clarified? Correction: the survey is 11 pages with a cover/instructional page all part of one survey booklet. (This does not include the coverletter for the survey). It is 3 sheets of 11x17 paper. 42. Will the layout of the newsletter be provided by the VA or should the contractor plan to design this? The final In-Design files will be provided to the contractor by the VA. The contractor will not design the newsletter. 43. For the newsletters requiring bulk shipment, how many bulk shipments should be planned? Should shipping costs be included? For those being sent direct mail, should #10 window envelopes be utilized? Sixty Five bulks shipments should be planned and shipping costs should be included. Newsletters directly mailed to Veterans have traditionally not used an envelope. 44. Does this BRE shipment occur once per year each year? How many sites will receive these? Should shipping costs be included? Also, what surveys and/or information will be mailed back to the contractor in these BREs? These are shipped to sites as needed. For purposes of this solicitation assume 65 sites. These are for sites to provide to Veterans if they need an extra envelope to return a survey to the contractor. 45. Roughly how many templates will be utilized for the whitemail response letters? Should the statement referencing 140 letters in Task 11 be moved to Task 12? Yes the statement referencing 140 letters in Task 11 should be moved to Task 12. There are 10 different templates. 46. Is a destruction certificate required, or just an email confirming destruction? A destruction certificate is required for both paper and electronic data. 47. Is there a file size limit for emailing proposals? If the email size exceeds the limit, can vendors send multiple emails when submitting proposals? Yes, if email size is limited, then multiple emails may be used to provide all information. All emails shall be received by the VA before the response date/time stated in the solicitation. 48. Aside from removing vendor-specific information (and replacing with the offeror code), what is meant by document shall be of plain text form ? Does this mean images/graphics, even those that are not vendor specific, would need to be removed from the redacted version? What about the use of color, bolding, or italics in the redacted version? All vendor specific information shall be removed from the redacted version. Images/graphics are fine if they do not contain vendor information or anything related to the offeror s identity. 49. Should large business offerors include a small business subcontracting plan in their proposal? FAR Clause 52.219-9 (a), 852.219-70 and RFO 19.109 (b) (1) state that small business plans are not required for small businesses; therefore, only large business offers will require a small business plan with their proposal. 50. The RFP states that "Due to the highly sensitive nature of the information and to ensure zero delays in performance an approved VA-E ATO is required before the first day of contract performance. The ATO shall be specific to the system utilized by MVP." We have an existing enterprise ATO with the VA, which could be used for this purpose. Could the Government please clarify what it means by the "ATO shall be specific to the system utilized by MVP" and what additional requirements must be met before the first day of contract performance? Include in your proposal your understanding of what steps you need to take to get an ATO for the specific data sharing between MVP and your organization. Please include your best understanding of how long it will take to receive that MVP-specific ATO. 51. Will the VA share existing ATO documentation or system security plans from the incumbent contractor with the Offeror upon contract award? The VA will share what is allowed to be shared. The VA and the contractor will share information on systems and security infrastructure as needed to get an ATO in place. 52. What are the specifications of the MVP newsletter? The newsletter is an 8-page booklet. 2 - 11x17 sheets of paper. Full color. Double-sided. Folder and sealed with a sticker. Personalized name and address. 53. What is the reference to the 140 individual letters under Business Reply Envelopes (BRE)? Please see question 45. 54. Will the VA consider past performance from subcontractors on the Offeror's team or only past performance from the prime contractor? Only past performance from the prime contractor will be used in the past performance evaluation, but subcontractor information may be used to support the experience factor. 55. Are there different versions of Task 3 items, e.g., some stand-alone postcards and some postcards in an envelope with an accompanying letter? Task 3 is a packet that contains 1 page cover letter and 1 postcard. Task 3 is not for standalone postcards.

Questions and Answers for solicitation 36C24E26R0001 Final Clarifications 12. Under the predecessor contract, the MVP Appreciation Pins have been provided as Government-Furnished Equipment (GFE) for insertion into the mailings. For pricing consistency, can the Government confirm that all offerors should assume this GFE arrangement will continue, and that they should only price the labor for insertion? The VA will provide these. If a different type of pin is needed in the future which the VA cannot provide, then the contract may be modified for the contractor to acquire. 37. Would a window envelope measuring 6 x 9.5 with a folded BRE be acceptable? Yes. Any envelope that enables the veteran to return the survey easily is acceptable. 38. Should pricing to manufacture the pin be included or does the VA provide these? What is meant by either provided by this contractor or a separate contractor ? The VA will provide these. If a different type of pin is needed in the future which the VA cannot provide, then the contract may be modified for the contractor to acquire.